A Eurasian Coot, Fulica atra, walking on frosted ice on top of a frozen pond.
Also known as Common Coot, to distinguish it from nine other species of Coot, it is widely distributed in Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.
Coots are dumpy water birds, members of the rail family, though very often very easy to see swimming out in the open, unlike many other rails which prefer to skulk.
As the Coot in the photo is walking on top of ice, it is really easy to see its lobed toes.
While its shape might look strange to the human eye, the curious configuration of the coot’s foot makes the bird adept at getting around both on water and on land, unlike most other waterfowl. Comparable to webbing on a duck’s foot, the palmate toes help a coot push through the water. On land, the lobes fold back when the bird lifts its foot, which facilitates walking on a variety of surfaces like mud, grass, and even ice.
The Audobon Society
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My photo of a Common Coot is available for sale as various types of wall art, and as home and personal accessories, from my gallery at Pixels.com.
It is available to license as a stock photo from iStock.
